Secrets of Drone Tuning with Jori Chisholm
This course is accessible via the sections below. Just click on each topic to begin learning. Secrets of Drone Tuning is designed for pipers of all levels and will take 2-3 hours to complete. I recommend completing each section in full before moving on to the next. You are welcome to pause and return as needed and use this content later as a reference for future tuning progress. I'm happy you've chosen me as your teacher today! Please email me at [email protected] should you have any additional questions.
You can learn to tune drones. The main reason most pipers struggle to tune drones is because they lack an organized step-by-step process, and this is exactly what I will show you. It’s the same or similar process that all top pipers use to get their pipes perfectly and quickly in tune. Once you learn the process, you’ll be able to repeat it consistently with a little practice. You’ll notice other pipers using the process, too, and you’ll understand that it’s not just moving things around randomly and hoping for the best!
When you have completed this course and implemented the step-by-step tuning process, you should feel confident in getting your pipes perfectly in tune, anytime and anywhere.
Bagpipes are often the subject of jokes that poke fun at the sound of the pipes.
The comic of the piper who has made a pile of money standing in front of a sign that reads “Pay or I play” might be based on this undeniable fact: an out-of-tune bagpipe sounds painfully bad!
Remember, our instrument is special. The pipes have a continuous sound and are very loud. The pipes have four separate reeds. A bagpipe can get quite out of tune, and there’s no hiding from it. Take a look at the following video examples.
Video of Good Drones
Video of Bad Drones
This brings us to today’s important lesson, a skill every piper can and should master: tuning the drones. Let’s get started.
Each drone makes a single sound: A. When properly tuned, the two tenor drones each make an identical sound. The bass drone is also A, but one octave lower. We change the pitch of a drone by moving the drone top up or down. Moving the drone top up lengthens the drone and makes the drone lower pitched. Moving the drone top down shortens the drone and makes the drone higher pitched. To help remember this, look at the drones themselves: the bass drone is the lowest drone and also the longest (i.e., longer = lower pitch; shorter = higher pitch).
The process of tuning involves two actions:
First, listen to the sound of the drones.
Then, move a drone and then listen to see if the sound gets better or worse.
When your drones are out of tune, the interference of the different tones results in a changing volume of sound called beats. These beats are the wavering wah-wah sound of out of tune drones. When you’re tuning your drones, you are listening for the beats. As you move the drones closer in tune, the beats slow down. When your drones are in tune, the beats disappear completely. The individual sounds of each drone also disappear and the drones are then combined into a single unified sound. Most people are quite good at detecting changes in sound, so if you can’t hear the beats, move a drone and listen to how the sound changes. You should be able to tell if the sound gets better or worse. This becomes easier with practice.
Before you blow up your pipes to practice the tuning drills below, you’ll want to make sure your pipes are working reasonably well. A complete guide to setup and maintenance of the bagpipes is beyond the scope of this course, but you’ll want to make sure your pipes are airtight and your drone reeds are working. Make sure to check the tightness of your joints on your drones.
The lowest joints (where the drones connect to the stocks) need to be very snug, so they stay put when tuning your drones. The top tuning slide on the bass drone isn’t used for tuning, so it can be quite tight. Personally, I like it tight enough so it doesn’t move unless I move it (to take apart the drone, for example).
The remaining three tuning slides (one on each tenor drone and the lower one on the bass) are where we do the tuning. These joints should be tight enough that they don’t move on their own or wobble, but loose enough to move them up and down comfortably with one hand.
Take some time right now to check these joints and make adjustments as needed. This will make the drone tuning exercises below much easier.
You will be able to tune your pipes easily and consistently if each drone makes a consistent, steady tone. However, this requires steady bag pressure and steady drone reeds.
Steady bag pressure is the key to a steady drone sound. Each of your drones reacts slightly differently to pressure fluctuations. To get your pipes properly in tune, you must maintain the same pressure at all times. Otherwise, you are trying to hit a moving target!
Not all drone reeds are created equal. Some drone reeds are very pressure sensitive and change pitch with even the slightest changes in bag pressure. These types of reeds will make tuning your drones very difficult or even impossible. Have you ever heard a piper whose drones seem to surge in pitch and volume as they play? Even pipers with the steadiest bag pressure have tiny changes in bag pressure (we are all human, after all), so you need reeds that hold their pitch and don’t move around. Bass reeds are often more sensitive than tenor reeds. When I’m playing new drone reeds, pressure sensitivity is the first thing I look for. If a drone reed is too sensitive to pressure I won’t use it!
The challenge of tuning a bagpipe is there are four sounds: a chanter note and three drones. It’s easy to hear when a set of pipes is perfectly in tune, but we need to follow a sequence of steps in the right order so we can get everything tuned. Our goal is to get the three drones perfectly matched to each other AND perfectly matched with the Low A on the chanter.
This process is my successful drone tuning secret. These steps allow you to tune your drones in a step-by-step manner. Following each step along the way will get your drones in tune every time!
In order to complete the entire process, make sure you can complete each of the steps completely and correctly. These practice exercises demonstrate how to tune the drones to each other without the chanter. So please remove your chanter and place a cork or rubber stopper in the stock. Watch each exercise, and then try them for yourself.
As you move a drone, remember to listen to how the sound changes. By listening, you’ll know when things start to sound better and more in tune, which means you are moving in the right direction. If things sound worse, move the other direction. It’s a process of trial and error.
Tuning Exercise #1 — Matching the Two Tenors
Strike up and shut off your Bass drone by tapping the top of the drone (or cork the top of the Bass drone).
Leave the Outside Tenor where it is and move the Middle Tenor up or down until the beats slow down and disappear. (FYI: I tune the Middle Tenor then move it out of tune and re-tune a second time.)
Tuning Exercise #2 — Matching the Bass to One Tenor
Strike up and shut off your Middle Tenor drone by tapping the top of the drone (or cork the top of the Middle Tenor).
Leave the Outside Tenor where it is and move the Bass up or down until the beats slow down and disappear. (FYI: I tune the Bass then move it out of tune and re-tune a second time.)
Tuning Exercise #3 — Starting with Two Drones, then Adding the Third Drone
This is the method used by most pipers. It begins with the process in Exercise #2 and adds an additional final step to bring in the third drone.
Strike up and shut off your Middle Tenor drone by tapping the top of the drone.
Leave the Outside Tenor where it is and move the Bass up or down until the beats slow down and disappear.
Turn on the middle tenor by flicking the top of the drone with your finger. Then move the Middle Tenor up or down until the beats slow down and disappear.
Tuning Exercise #4 —Tuning all three drones at once — OPTIONAL
This is quite difficult and I don’t recommend it. Most pipers prefer to use the method in Exercise #3. Try this one and you’ll see why.
Strike up and move the Middle Tenor and Bass up or down until the beats slow down and disappear.
Keep switching back and forth and making adjustments until the Middle Tenor and Bass both match the Outside Tenor.
Now that you are proficient and getting your drones in tune with each other, let’s look at the complete process for getting them also in tune with the chanter.
As you know, when you first start to play your pipes, your chanter will slowly rise in pitch as the reed and instrument warms up. This is normal. But keep this in mind as you practice your drone tuning. What often happens is that by the time you finish tuning the chanter has come up in pitch and now you need to start over! To avoid this, you can play your pipes for a few minutes (maybe do a quick, rough tuning) and then do a fine tuning once the chanter has warmed up and stabilized after five minutes or so. My Tone Protector™ Digital Chanter with Two-Way Humidity Control is very helpful in this regard. This award-winning and patented tool shortens the warm up time and stabilizes the pitch and tuning. I highly recommend it!
As previously mentioned, you must maintain a steady bag pressure while tuning. It’s also important to make sure that your drones are not too pressure sensitive. Many pipers (even those who are good at keeping steady pressure) are unsteady when tuning. This is probably the single biggest problem pipers have with tuning! Make sure you keep the same pressure on Low A and High A.
These exercises show how to tune the drones to each other and to match the chanter.
Tuning Exercise #5 —Tuning your Pipes, Starting with One Drone (Easy Method)
Play High A. Shut off your Bass and Middle Tenor drone by tapping the top of the drones.
Play Low A. Listen to the sound of the Outside Tenor and Low A. Make a guess. Does the Outside Tenor need to go up or down to match the Low A?
Play High A. Move the Outside Tenor based on your guess. Then go back to Step 2 (check Low A). Keep repeating these steps until the Outside Tenor matches Low A perfectly.
Play High A. Turn on the Middle Tenor by flicking the top of the drone with your finger. Then move the Middle Tenor up or down until it matches the Outside Tenor.
Play Low A. If your two tenors perfectly match your Low A move to the next step.
Play High A. Turn on the Bass and move it up or down until it matches the other two drones.
Play Low A. If you hear a smooth tone (no beats), congratulations, your drones are in tune!
Tuning Exercise #6 —Tuning your Pipes, Starting with Two Drones, then Adding the Third Drone (Recommended Method)
Play High A. Shut off your Middle Tenor drone by tapping the top of the drone.
Move the Bass up or down until it matches the Outside Tenor.
Play Low A. Listen to the sound of the two drones and Low A. Make a guess. Do the drones need to go up or down to match the Low A?
Play High A. Move the Outside Tenor based on your guess. Then go back to Step 2 (match the Bass). Keep repeating these steps until the Bass and Outside Tenor both match Low A perfectly.
Play High A. Turn on the Middle Tenor by flicking the top of the drone with your finger. Then move the Middle Tenor up or down until it matches the other two drones.
Play Low A. If your three drones perfectly match your Low A, your drones are in tune!
Tuning Exercise #7 — Tuning your Pipes, all Three Drones at Once (Most Difficult Method) — OPTIONAL
Play High A. Leave the Outside Tenor where it is and move the Bass and Middle up or down until they both match the Outside Tenor.
Play Low A. Listen to the sound of the three drones and Low A. Make a guess. Do the drones need to go up or down to match the Low A?
Play High A. Move the Outside Tenor based on your guess. Then go back to Step 1 (match the Bass and Middle Tenor).
Keep repeating these steps until all three drones match Low A perfectly. When all three drones perfectly match your Low A, your drones are in tune!
I’ve created a printable Drone Tuning Handbook with these three Tuning Methods (one drone, two drone, or three drones) so you can download it, print out, and follow it. If you get lost or stuck, start over and try again. If you’re still stuck, take a break and come back to it.
Secrets of Drone Tuning Handbook
I hope that this streamlined process aids you in learning how to properly tune your drones. With practice, this technique will become easier and more intuitive. If you have any questions regarding topics from this course or others, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email.
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